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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

I had the privilege
this past weekend to present a Marketing with Marty™ seminar at PC Synergy's
PostalMate regional training event in Baltimore, Maryland. It was an honor to
be asked to speak, and I was overjoyed to oblige!

The
Marketing with Marty™ session I led was my newly revamped Inside Out Marketing
3.0. The class focuses on brand and image, and the essentialness of supporting
your brand through the design, layout, atmosphere, and attitude of your brick
and mortar store. We learn how to market our businesses from the inside out,
getting it right at the core--inside our stores--so customers' experiences when
they visit reinforce the positive feelings of the external marketing messages
that they initially responded to. It's a fun class, and I love sharing it!

I
drove to Baltimore, which gave me a few hours to catch up on my backlogged
podcast queue. One of my favorite podcasts that I listen to faithfully and
habitually is Lewis Howes' The School of Greatness. It's just plain
inspiring.

I
don't know how Lewis and his team vet his guests, but they have a knack for
coming up with the most engaging, uplifting, and turn-your-life-upside-down-in-a-good-way
humans that really make you think about your walk and expand your dreams of
what could be … in business, relationships, health, wellness, and more.

One
of Lewis's most recent episodes is a solo show titled "The Lifetime Millionaire,"
and it captivated me as I crept along the construction-laden stretch of I-81
called "Pennsylvania." The focus of the episode was branding.

Lewis
shared how, on a recent trip to Buenos Aires, he noticed a pair of Coca-Cola
branded shoes being sold alongside Reebok, Nike, and Adidas. He marveled at the
intensity of the Coca-Cola brand that has such loyalty and power to put their
logo on shoes--a place a soft drink brand should never be--and get a prime
price for them!

Throughout
the episode, Lewis mentioned brand and design as an investment with an
invisible return. We can't measure the dollars we put into design with metrics,
like we can with many other ventures. But the return is absolutely there, even
if we can't wholly define it.

Branding
is never final. Periodically, it needs to be revamped and recharged. Logos,
slogans, and taglines don't last forever, and need to be updated to stay
current and relevant. Websites and social media profiles need to be constantly
tweaked, and completely overhauled from time to time. Each time we upgrade, we
see more visits, more shares, more engagement, and more opportunity springing
forth. Investment--both money and minutes--in photos and quality artwork will
set us apart and above. As Lewis says, "The premium goes up when you
invest in premium design."

As
I idled through traffic, I listened, learned, and marveled at the simple,
sensible, salient message that gave me a clearer understanding of
branding--both for the necessary work I need to do on my own and for helping
others with theirs. I strongly encourage you to listen to The Lifetime
Millionaire episode, and subscribe to The School of Greatness podcast on
iTunes. You'll be glad you did!

I
had a blast in Baltimore, networking with others in our unique industry, learning,
growing, taking stock of what we have, imagining what could be next, and
thinking in new directions. Thank you, PC Synergy and attendees, for inviting
me to be part of such a worthwhile weekend!

I
look forward to presenting Inside Out Marketing 3.0 again in a few weeks at the
Retail Shippers Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. I hope to see you there!